LIBRARY 

Of 


MAY  AND  JUNE,  1781, 


TO 


GENERAL   JOHN    SULLIVAN, 


IN     PHILADELPHIA. 


UBRARY 


Of 
CAUPMtNIA 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  01-  U,.u.'OrtiM,  SAN  DIEGO 

U  JOLLA,  CALIFORNIA 

DANIEL    SULLIVAN'S    VISITS, 

MAY  AND  JUNE,  1781, 

TO 

GENERAL   JOHN    SULLIVAN, 

IN     PHILADELPHIA, 


TO    EXPLAIN 


DECLARATIONS   IN   SIR   HENRY   CLINTON'S 
SECRET   JOURNAL. 


BY  THOMAS  CL^AMORY. 

T< 


[REPRINTED  FROM  A  PAPER  READ  TO  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY,  MARCH,  1884.] 


WITH   ADDITIONAL    COMMENTS. 


CAMBRIDGE: 

JOHN    WILSON    AND     SON. 


1884. 


CLINTON'S   SECRET   JOURNAL. 


AT  a  meeting  of  the  MASSACHUSETTS  HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY,  held  Feb.  14,  1884,  Mr.  THOMAS  C.  AMORY 
communicated  the  following  paper  :  — 

It  is  desirable  to  have  in  print,  where  conscientious  histo- 
rians may  find  it,  any  information  we  may  possess  to  explain 
what,  unexplained,  may  work  injustice.  The  secret  journal 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  now  in  process  of  publication  in  the 
"  Magazine  of  American  History,"  is  an  important  contribution 
to  the  material  of  our  Revolutionary  annals.  Such  journals 
are  liable,  from  their  character,  to  convey  erroneous  impres- 
sions; arid  regard  for  the  memory  of  the  dead  and  the  happi- 
ness of  the  living  imposes  a  duty  upon  societies  like  our  own, 
to  set  right  what  may  affect  reputation.  Present  generations, 
more  familiar  with  events  comparatively  recent,  may  be  better 
able  to  prevent  mistakes  creeping  into  history  than  those  that 
follow  them. 

Daniel  Sullivan,  the  elder  brother  of  General  John  Sullivan 
of  the  Continental  army,  and  of  James,  one  of  the  founders 
and  the  first  president  of  this  Society,  during  the  War  for 
Independence  commanded  a  force  of  minute-men,  about  one 
hundred  in  number,  raised  near  his  home  in  Sullivan,  on  the 
east  shore  of  Frenchman's  Bay,  opposite  Mount  Desert.  They 
protected  the  neighborhood  from  depredation,  became  aggres- 
sive when  there  was  cause,  and  formed  an  excellent  school  for 
recruits  for  the  army.  They  took  part  in  the  attack  on  Cas- 
tine  in  1779,  and  rendered  on  other  occasions  efficient  service. 
Soon  after,  the  execution  of  Andr£  provoking  a  feeling  of 


resentment  and  a  disposition  to  retaliate,  the  frigate  "Alle- 
giance," in  February,  1781,  landed  a  party  at  night  on  the 
shore  near  Daniel's  dwelling,  at  Waukeag  Point.  They  sur- 
rounded his  house  while  he  was  sleeping,  cast  into  the  snow 
his  wife  and  children,  burnt  the  buildings,  and  carried  him 
prisoner  to  Castine. 

Declining  the  usual  proffers  of  rank  and  reward  if  he  would 
swear  allegiance  to  the  crown,  he  was  sent  to  New  York,  and 
committed  to  the  Jersey  Hulks.  These  prison  ships  were 
noted  for  their  foulness,  and  few  came  out  from  them  alive. 
Daniel,  accustomed  to  the  pure  air  and  freedom  of  his  farm, 
anxious  for  his  family  left  shelterless,  their  home  in  ashes,  lost 
health  and  spirits,  and  was  naturally  eager  for  deliverance. 
While  thus  confined,  Stephen  Holland,  at  one  time  clerk  of 
the  Hillsborough  County  Courts  in  New  Hampshire,  who  had 
left  the  State  in  1778  under  suspicion  of  disaffection,  who  had 
then  gone  to  New  York,  and  was  now  a  major  in  the  British 
army,  went  to  see  him.  As  before  the  war  he  had  known 
General  Sullivan,  whose  extensive  professional  practice  carried 
him  into  the  different  counties,  he  visited  Daniel,  perhaps  of 
his  own  motion,  or  he  may  have  been  sent  by  his  superior  offi- 
cers. Having  heard  Daniel's  story  and  witnessed  his  distress, 
he  procured  for  him,  from  Clinton,  permission  to  visit  his 
brother  John,  then  a  member  of  Congress  at  Philadelphia,  to 
effect  his  exchange. 

General  Sullivan  was  then  serving  a  second  term  in  the  Con- 
gress. From  September,  1774,  to  June,  1775,  he  had  taken  an 
active  part  in  that  body,  in  organizing  resistance  to  the 
encroachments  of  the  British  Government  upon  the  just  rights 
of  the  colonies.  With  Washington  he  joined  the  army  besieg- 
ing Boston,  in  July,  1775,  and  with  General  Greene  served  as 
Brigadier-General  under  General  Lee,  who  commanded  the  left 
wing.  During  the  following  winter  the  Connecticut  line,  its 
period  of  enlistment  ended,  went  home ;  and  his  efforts  and 
influence  were  largely  instrumental  in  replacing  them  with 
two  thousand  troops  from  his  own  State.  After  Howe  evacu- 
ated Boston,  in  March,  1776,  General  Sullivan  was  sent  to 
Canada,  and  there  extricated  our  army,  weakened  by  disease, 
from  their  perilous  position,  the  force  opposed  to  them  being 
greatly  superior.  Recalled  to  New  York,  now  Major-General, 
with  McDougal  and  Lord  Sterling  as  his  brigadiers,  they  did 


what  they  could  with  five  thousand  men,  to  withstand  four- 
fold their  numbers,  and,  with  Sterling,  Sullivan  was  taken 
prisoner. 

Exchanged  for  Prescott,  he  was  honorably  noticed  in  gen- 
eral orders  for  his  services  in  West  Chester,  and  after  Lee's 
capture  in  December  marched  his  -troops  to  join  Washington 
on  the  Delaware.  A  few  days  afterwards  he  took  part  as 
commander  of  the  right  wing  in  the  battles  of  Trenton  and 
Princeton.  He  made,  in  August,  an  attack  at  night  on  Staten 
Island,  which  a  court  of  inquiry  decided  deserved  the  appro- 
bation of  the  country.  At  the  battle  of  the  Brandywine,  in 
command  of  the  right  wing,  he  was  opposed,  with  five  thou- 
sand men,  to  double  their  force,  whom  he  kept  for  two  hours 
at  bay,  —  for  half  that  time,  to  use  his  own  expression,  muzzle 
to  muzzle.  Again  at  Germantown  he  commanded  on  the  right, 
and  drove  the  enemy  opposed  to  him,  when  fog  and  smoke 
and  mistakes  in  other  parts  of  the  field  led  to  retreat.  The 
army  then  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Valley  Forge,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  building  a  bridge  over  the  Schuylkill. 

Ordered  to  Rhode  Island  towards  the  spring  of  1778,  as  the 
welcome  intelligence  arrived  of  the  treaty  of  alliance  with 
France,  he  commanded,  at  the  siege  of  Newport,  ten  thousand 
men,  whom  he  helped  in  raising  to  co-operate  with  D'Estaing 
and  his  fleet.  The  appearance  of  a  large  British  naval  force 
drew  out  the  French  fleet  to  pursue  them.  The  fleet,  shattered 
by  the  storm  and  partial  conflicts,  returned  only  to  announce 
the  necessity  of  their  going  to  Boston  to  refit.  The  American 
army,  diminished  by  the  departure  home  of  the  militia  and 
volunteers  whose  term  of  enlistment  had  expired,  withdrew  to 
Butt's  Hill,  at  the  north  end  of  the  island.  There,  and  on 
the  way,  was  fought,  on  the  29th  of  August,  what  Lafayette 
pronounced  the  best-fought  battle  of  the  war.  It  began  at 
about  seven  in  the  morning,  and  lasted,  with  little  intermission, 
if  any,  till  four  in  the  afternoon,  ending  in  a  bayonet  charge 
which  drove  the  enemy  to  their  intrenchments  on  Quaker 
Hill  and  Anthony's.  The  British  loss  that  day  exceeded  one 
thousand  men,  the  troops  engaged  being  about  six  thousand 
on  each  side. 

The  following  year  Sullivan  commanded  an  expedition  of 
four  thousand  men  into  Western  New  York.  One  object  was 
to  punish  the  Indian  tribes  for  their  atrocities  at  Wyoming  and 


along  the  frontier,  and  deter  them  from  repetition  ;  another 
was  to  open  the  paths  for  the  invasion  of  Canada  if  D'Estaing 
returned  in  season  to  co-operate.  D'Estaing  was  belated  in 
the  West  Indies,  made  a  hurried  and  unsuccessful  attack  on 
Savannah,  and  returned  wounded  to  France.  Sullivan,  by  an 
accident  and  the  exposures  in  the  campaign,  had  become  inca- 
pacitated for  the  time  for  active  service,  and  resigned  from 
the  army  as  the  year  closed.  The  letter  of  Washington  in 
reply  to  the  communication  of  his  resignation  testified  to  the 
high  estimate  he  held  of  Sullivan's  services  in  the  army. 

He  was  slowly  recovering  from  serious  illness  when,  without 
his  knowledge  and  against  his  wishes,  as  his  family  needed 
his  professional  services  for  their  support,  he  was  chosen  a 
delegate  again  to  the  Congress.  Among  other  duties  which 
devolved  upon  him,  he  was  directed  and  empowered  to  defend 
the  title  of  New  Hampshire  to  fifty  or  more  townships  of  land 
east  of  the  Connecticut.  New  York  claimed  them,  as  she  did 
Vermont,  as  part  of  her  domain,  and  sent  four  of  her  ablest 
advocates  to  urge  her  rights.  After  twenty  arguments  of  the 
cause  before  Congress,  Sullivan  succeeded  in  securing  the 
townships  for  his  State.  From  his  long  experience  in  the  field, 
he  was  able  to  institute  many  useful  reforms  in  the  army,  as 
also  in  other  departments  of  the  public  service.  He  took  an 
active  part  on  the  committees  for  furnishing  means  for  the  war 
by  improving  the  currency,  restoring  credit,  inducing  the  State 
to  impose  taxes,  and  procuring  loans  and  subsidies. 

These  measures  took  months  to  mature  ;  and  as  they  were 
becoming  ripe  for  adoption,  the  Continental  currency  reached 
its  last  stages  of  collapse.  In  various  places  occurred  popular 
demonstrations  of  discontent,  and  on  the  6th  of  May,  1781, 
the  day  Daniel  Sullivan  reached  Philadelphia,  similar  distur- 
bances took  place  in  its  public  streets.  That  night,  as  he  was 
supping  with  his  brother,  Daniel  gave  him  a  letter  from  Major 
Holland. '  Its  contents,  as  it  was  immediately  destroyed,  are 
only  known  by  what  John  told  Luzerne  a  few  days  after.  It 
is  reasonable  to  presume  that  one  principal  subject  of  Holland's 
letter  was  Daniel's  exchange  or  liberation.  But  he  took  occa- 
sion after  complimenting  the  general  upon  his  intelligence  and 
talents,  and  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  Eng- 
lish, to  add  that  they  regarded  him  as  the  fittest  man  to  nego- 
tiate a  reconciliation  between  the  mother  country  and  the 


English  colonies  ;  that  they  wished  him  to  make  known  his 
sentiments  on  the  subject;  that  all  overtures  on  his  part  would 
be  received  with  the  consideration  which  they  deserved ;  that 
he  had  only  to  state  his  wishes ;  that  the  person  who  wrote  to 
him  was  fully  empowered  to  open  a  special  negotiation  with 
him,  and  he  might  count  upon  the  profoundest  secrecy.  Such 
a  proposal  of  secret  correspondence  with  the  enemy  so  soon 
after  Arnold's  defection  might  well  have  aroused  his  indigna- 
tion as  a  reflection  upon  his  good  sense  as  well  as  upon  his 
honor.  He  burnt  the  letter  before  the  face  of  Daniel,  and 
begged  him  to  tell  those  that  sent  him  that  their  overtures 
had  been  received  with  the  deepest  scorn. 

Still  eager  to  effect  Daniel's  liberation,  John  wrote  Holland 
an  answer  to  his  letter  and  gave  it  to  his  brother  to  carry  to 
him.  But  upon  reflection,  lest  it  should  compromise  Daniel 
or  be  misconstrued,  he  sent  next  morning  for  him,  as  he  was 
taking  his  departure  for  New  York,  and  took  the  letter  away, 
saying  he  would  find  some  other  means  to  communicate  it  to 
Holland.  What  John  said  in  this  interview  as  Daniel  was 
starting  on  his  journey,  in  the  midst  of  John's  various  engage- 
ments, in  a  place  subject  to  interruption  and  open  to  observa- 
tion, Daniel  might  well  have  misunderstood.  In  his  desire  to 
save  his  brother  from  captivity  arid  not  to  wound  his  sensitive- 
ness by  want  of  cordiality,  John's  words  might  have  been 
construed  to  mean  more  than  he  ever  thought  of  attaching  to 
them. 

Some  ten  days  later,  after  Daniel's  return  to  New  York, 
Holland  drew  up  the  paper  purporting  to  give  an  account  of 
what  took  place  between  the  brothers  in  Philadelphia.  If  in 
the  intervening  period  John  had  been  heard  from,  the  declara- 
tion would  not  have  been  needed.  Its  obvious  object  was  to 
obtain  Daniel's  deliverance,  and  this  by  representing  John  as 
"having  good  intentions  towards  the  English."  It  abounds  in 
improbabilities  and  exaggerations,  and  distorts  language,  possi- 
bly uttered  in  other  connections  and  susceptible  of  very  differ- 
ent explanation,  into  an  import  inconsistent  with  the  whole 
tenor  of  John's  previous  life  and  his  subsequent  conduct.  '  For 
no  sooner  had  Daniel  taken  his  departure  than  John  went  to 
Luzerne,  the  French  minister,  the  last  person  he  would  have 
selected  for  his  confidant  if  he  had  entertained  any  disloyal 
intentions,  and  told  him  all  that  had  taken  place,  with  some 


slight  reserve  as  to  what  might  compromise  Daniel  as  an 
American  officer  or  a  British  prisoner.  He  may  have  related 
the  circumstances  also  to  his  friends  in  Congress,  or  to  that 
body;  but  of  this  we  have  no  evidence.  His  whole  language 
to  Luzerne,  as  set  forth  in  that  minister's  letter  to  Vergennes, 
dated  May  13,  the  following  Sunday,  was  that  of  a  man  of 
honor  and  of  too  much  good  sense,  knowingly,  to  be  placed  in 
a  false  position. 

Sullivan  was  under  obligation  to  Luzerne.  When,  in  1774, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  he  went  to  the  Congress,  he  had 
already  accumulated,  by  his  professional  labors  and  judicious 
investments,  ten  thousand  pounds.  For  seven  years  he  had 
been  constantly  in  the  public  service,  civil  or  military,  and  he 
continued  in  it  as  long  as  he  lived.  His  property  depreciated ; 
he  was  considerate  of  his  debtors ;  he  had  a  family  to  support. 
For  the  last  three  years  of  his  military  service,  although  in 
command  of  separate  departments,  he  had  received  in  all  fif- 
teen hundred  dollars  for  his  pay  and  expenses,  besides  rations; 
the  last  year  but  forty  dollars,  as  indicated  by  the  paymaster's 
account.  One  hundred  dollars  had  been  advanced  to  him  in 
1780  by  New  Hampshire  towards  defraying  his  travelling  ex- 
penses to  Congress.  His  means  speedily  exhausted,  he  wrote 
to  Weare,  president  of  the  State,  for  remittances.  His  let- 
ter, intercepted,  was  carried  to  New  York  and  printed  in  the 
"  Gazette."  It  came  thus  to  the  knowledge  of  Luzerne,  who 
of  his  own  accord  offered  him  a  loan  of  what  was  equivalent 
to  a  year's  pay  at  a  dollar  a  day,  or  seventy  guineas.  This 
may  have  actuated  his  choice  of  a  confidant  when  puzzled  as 
to  what  was  best  to  be  done  in  May,  1781. 

The  acceptance  of  this  loan  in  his  need  has  been  censured. 
But  Sullivan  was  on  friendly  terms  with  Luzerne.  France 
was  our  ally,  with  no  conflicting  interests.  Six  weeks  later, 
when  the  Pennsylvania  line,  with  its  pay  long  in  arrears,  be- 
came disaffected,  a  committee  composed  of  Sullivan,  Wither- 
spoon,  and  Matthews,  went  to  confer  with  Governor  Reed  of 
that  State.  Sullivan  wrote  to  Luzerne  an  account  of  what 
had  taken  place,  from  Trenton,  Jan.  13, 1781.  His  letter  closed 
with  the  following  postscript :  — 

"  One  circumstance  ought  not  to  be  omitted,  which  in  my  opinion 
does  the  insurgents  much  honor.  When  they  delivered  up  the  British 


9 

emissaries,  Governor  Reed  offered  them  a  hundred  golden  guineas, 
which  they  refused,  saying  that  what  they  did  was  only  a  duty  they 
owed  to  their  country,  and  that  they  neither  wanted  nor  would  receive 
any  reward  but  the  approbation  of  that  country  for  which  they  had  so 
often  fought  and  bled." 

He  would  hardly  have  thus  written  to  Luzerne  if  the  loan 
made  to  him  seven  weeks  before  had  been  tainted  for  either 
by  any  thought  of  corruption  ;  and  some  of  the  most  honorable 
men  in  the  country,  presidents  of  historical  societies,  have 
placed  on  record  their  sense  of  its  entire  propriety. 

The  Government  owed  him  six  thousand  dollars  for  pay  and 
advances  while  in  the  army.  Though  the  whole  sum  was 
finally  paid  him,  fifteen  hundred  only  was  voted,  July  31,  1781; 
and  of  this  the  public  treasury  could  spare,  for  several  months, 
but  two  hundred.  His  friends  were  busily  engaged  in  bringing 
about  a  more  cordial  feeling  between  himself  and  Burke,  of 
North  Carolina,  who  were  still  at  variance  about  the  battle  of 
Brandywine,  four  years  before.  Burke  thought  that  Sulli- 
van's five  thousand  men  in  the  right  wing  should  have  subdued 
twice  or  thrice  that  number  of  British  veterans,  who  were  far 
better  armed  and  equipped.  Probably  neither  of  them  allowed 
any  personal  feeling  to  interfere  with  his  public  functions;  but, 
as  they  were  constantly  on  the  same  committees,  it  seemed 
better  they  should  make  peace.  This  was  effected  by  General 
McDougal  and  Mr.  Shiel  at  this  very  time ;  the  former's  letter, 
giving  an  account  of  their  reconciliation,  bearing  date  the  22d 
of  May.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  any  one,  even  if  gener- 
ally actuated  by  selfish  considerations,  would  have  incurred 
the  risk  of  forfeiting  the  esteem  of  his  associates,  on  whose 
good  opinion  so  much  depended,  by  any  questionable  pro- 
ceedings. 

Daniel  at  an  early  age  had  joined  his  wife's  kinsfolk  and 
neighbors,  the  Beans,  Gordons,  Hammonds,  Plaisdells,  and 
Prebles,  in  procuring  a  grant  of  thirty  thousand  acres,  —  now 
Hancock  and  Sullivan,  on  Frenchman's  Bay,  —  and  on  a  farm 
three  or  four  miles  south  of  the  present  principal  settlement 
was  extensively  engaged  in  sawing  lumber.  Not  originally  so 
well  educated  as  his  three  brothers,  who  were  bred  to  the  bar 
and  were  all  successful  lawyers,  he  may  have  been  less  sensi- 
tive to  John's  public  obligations  and  the  consequences  of  their 


10 

violation.  The  transactions  of  Congress  were  manifold  in 
their  nature,  and  recorded  in  separate  journals.  One  of  them 
for  foreign  affairs  was  secret,  as  also  another  for  domestic ;  but 
those  entered  on  the  public  journal  were  generally  known. 
What  transpired  in  Philadelphia  soon  found  its  way  to  New 
York ;  and  he  may  have  had  in  mind  the  newspapers  in  suggest- 
ing that  John  should  send  Holland  news  of  what  took  place. 

His  anxiety  was  not  without  cause.  Public  opinion  in  Eng- 
land clamored  for  retribution  for  the  execution  of  Andre".  The 
Government  lost  temper  at  their  ill  success ;  their  prisoners 
were  sent  to  England,  and  there,  as  here,  subjected  to  inex- 
cusable barbarities.  The  brutal  murder  of  Colonel  Hayne  in 
August  had  already  been  precedented  by  like  atrocities,  which 
at  this  time  or  soon  after  justified  the  appropriation  of  the 
Sirasbury  Mines  in  Connecticut  for  a  prison  house.  Daniel's 
principal  concern  was  to  regain  his  freedom,  of  which  he  had 
been  unwarrantably  deprived,  while  he  might,  and  go  home  to 
the  protection  of  his  family.  His  brother,  conscious  of  his  own 
integrity,  which  had  never  been  impeached,  might  well  have 
risked  reputation  for  such  an  object,  though  nothing  would 
have  tempted  him  to  forfeit  his  honor. 

The  declaration  drawn  up  by  Holland  to  effect  this  object 
by  conveying  the  impression  of  John's  good  intentions  to  the 
Crown,  may  have  been  influenced  by  a  wish  to  range  John 
on  his  own  side  of  the  contest.  Both  Holland  and  Clinton 
probably  knew  of  the  overtures  to  peace  communicated  by 
Vergennes  from  Paris  sixty  days  before.  Independence  even 
to  them  must  have  seemed  assured ;  and  an  influential  friend 
like  General  Sullivan  might  save  Holland  in  that  event  from 
the  exile  which  ended  in  his  death  in  Ireland  as  the  war  closed. 
There  is  no  evidence  or  reason  to  suppose,  however,  that  Gen- 
eral Sullivan  in  any  way  authorized  Holland  to  misrepresent 
his  dispositions  towards  England,  or  did  aught  to  save  Daniel 
except  through  the  legitimate  channels  of  exchange. 

Four  years  before,  Judge  Livius,  also  a  refugee  loyalist 
from  New  Hampshire,  wrote  him  a  letter  of  like  character  to 
that  of  Holland.  Many  of  the  leaders  were  similarly  ap- 
proached, but  Arnold  was  almost  the  solitary  instance  of 
defection.  In  burning  Holland's  letter  when  he  received  it, 
General  Sullivan  had  expressed  himself  in  terms  sufficiently 
explicit  of  his  indignation.  If  the  next  morning,  as  alleged 


11 

in  the  declaration,  Daniel  said  that  what  Holland  wished  was 
information  as  to  the  transactions  of  Congress  and  advice  as  to 
what  steps  to  take,  and  that  he  might  name  his  own  terms, 
John  certainly  did  not  agree  to  give  either.  In  his  kindly 
feeling  towards  his  brother,  at  what  might  have  proved  their 
last  parting,  he  probably  did  not  think  any  repetition  of  what 
he  had  said  the  night  before  called  for.  If  he  used  such  phrases 
as  set  forth  in  the  declaration,  "that  he  was  sorry  it  was  too 
late,"  "  that  he  would  ride  a  hundred  miles  to  see  Holland 
and  learn  his  views  about  politics,"  "  that  he  would  seek  an 
occasion  for  sending  Daniel  to  him,"  which  is  very  proble- 
matical, they  were  quite  likely  used  in  some  other  connection, 
and  fell  short  of  any  proof  or  reasonable  evidence  of  any  agree- 
ment to  do  aught  inconsistent  with  his  existing  obligations. 

He  did  not  lose  sight  of  the  important  consideration  as  to 
how  much  Daniel's  safety  depended  upon  Holland's  kind 
offices.  Holland's  disposition  towards  himself  seemed  friendly, 
and  he  may  have  made  some  allowance  for  what  was  dishonor- 
ing in  the  proposal  of  terms.  He  may  have  considered,  as 
suggested  to  Luzerne  a  few  days  after,  the  opportunity  too 
favorable  not  to  be  improved  for  procuring  information  of  the 
enemy's  designs  and  movements.  This  idea,  if  entertained, 
soon  yielded  to  the  counsels  of  Luzerne  and  his  own  reflec- 
tion on  its  imprudence.  These  various  reasons  explain  why, 
if  the  declaration  be  a  true  account  of  what  took  place  in 
Philadelphia  when  they  parted,  which  does  not  seem  proba- 
ble, John  did  not  again  resent,  in  terms  more  indignant,  the 
proposition  of  Clinton  and  Holland,  through  Daniel,  when 
repeated  that  morning. 

Luzerne's  letter  to  Vergennes,  dated  the  13th  of  May,  shows 
plainly  enough  that  he  had  no  disloyal  intentions.  "It  is  for- 
tunate for  his  memory  that  these  two  documents  —  one  from 
England,  the  other  from  France,  each  giving  one  side  of  the 
same  transaction,  each  separately  brought  back  to  America 
about  a  century  after  their  dates — should  so  completely  ex- 
plain each  other  : "  showing  that  General  Sullivan  was  neither 
corrupt  nor  disloyal ;  that  under  circumstances  peculiarly  try- 
ing his  conduct  was  that  of  an  honest  man  and  affectionate 
brother ;  and  that  he  was  sensible  enough  to  guard  his  repu- 
tation from  the  misconstructions  and  misrepresentations  of 
those  who  might  seek  to  defame  it,  by  making  the  minister  of 


12 

France  his  confidant  and  the  official  correspondence  the  de- 
pository of  his  abundant  justification.  Clinton,  like  Walpole, 
thought  every  man  had  his  price  ;  but  it  was  proved  over  and 
over  again  during  the  Revolution  that  this  was  not  true  of  the 
American  leaders. 

As  there  is  no  evidence  or  reason  to  suppose  that  John  ever 
gave  information  or  advice  to  the  enemy  ;  as  there  were  but 
fifteen  days,  from  the  7th  to  the  22d  of  May,  1781,  when  there 
was  the  slightest  possibility  that  he  should  have  had  any 
chance  or  temptation  to  do  so,  and  during  all  this  period  he 
was  busily  engaged  with  the  most  honorable  gentlemen  of 
Congress,  in  public  affairs  taking  a  leading  part  in  debate 
and  on  committees,  and  on  the  26th  placed  on  the  Committee 
for  Peace,  from  which  Luzerne,  who  had  the  best  means  of 
knowing  him,  might  have  easily  had  him  excluded  by  de- 
nouncing him,  if  he  had  any  ground  of  suspecting  his  integ- 
rity ;  as  the  declaration  is  susceptible  of  easy  explanation 
without  any  impeachment  of  his  honor  or  reputation,  —  we 
think  no  conscientious  writer  on  American  history,  having 
improved  all  the  sources  of  information  that  are  accessible,  as 
our  Proceedings  must  always  be,  can  upon  the  evidence  hon- 
estly question  his  loyalty  and  fidelity  to  all  obligations. 

The  journals  of  Congress,  his  own  correspondence,  and  the 
course  of  events  testify  strongly  against  the  likelihood  of 
his  ever  having  in  the  slightest  degree  favorably  entertained 
the  temptations  presented,  or  of  their  having  been  the  slight- 
est temptation  to  him.  If  he  ever  took  them  into  his  mind, 
upon  the  briefest  reflection  he  must  have  repelled  them  with- 
out hesitation.  If  flattered  at  the  thought  of  becoming  the 
mediator  of  peace  when  the  moment  was  ripe  for  such  a  con- 
summation, he  knew  that  to  Congress  and  our  representative 
at  Paris  had  been  committed  all  peace  negotiations.  The 
proposal  of  selfish  inducements  was  simply  an  insult.  He 
had  been  steadfast  from  the  first  to  the  cause  of  Indepen- 
dence, and  he  so  continued  till  it  was  soon  afterwards  accom- 
plished. For  seven  years  he  had  been  engaged  in  the  conflict, 
had  made  for  it  as  great  sacrifices,  and  endured  as  great 
hardships,  as  any  other  of  the  patriots.  He  stood  well  in 
the  public  estimation  and  with  the  Congress.  What  object 
could  he  have  had  to  throw  away  so  honorable  a  record, 
when  fleets  and  armies  were  gathering  with  such  reasonable 


13 

prospect  of  obtaining  that  for  which  they  had  so  long  been 
contending? 

If  he  was  ever  in  doubt  as  to  the  issues  of  the  war,  his  duties 
were  too  absorbing  to  admit  of  any  thought  of  discouragement. 
The  journals  of  Congress,  both  public  and  private,  exhibit 
the  variety  and  extent  of  his  occupations.  Few  of  the  mem- 
bers were  more  busily  engaged  or  constantly  called  upon  to 
do  their  part  in  debate  or  on  committees.  In  October,  1780, 
he  was  employed  with  Madison  and  Duane  in  instructing 
Franklin  and  Jay  to  maintain  the  right  of  the  United  States 
to  all  the  territory  held  by  Great  Britain  recognized  by  the 
Treaty  of  Paris  in  1763,  including  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi.  He  had  moved  at  that  time  that  a  letter  should 
be  addressed  to  the  King  of  France,  urging  a  more  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  war.  This  letter,  bearing  date  the  22d  of 
November,  was  responded  to  by  the  king  on  the  9th  of  March, 
pledging  himself  to  what  was  requested  ;  his  response  reaching 
Philadelphia  on  the  22d  of  May,  1781. 

In  December,  intelligence  being  received  of  the  capture  of 
Henry  Laurens,  formerly  president  of  the  Congress,  who  had 
been  sent  out  in  July  to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  States- 
General,  and  had  been  imprisoned  on  a  charge  of  treason  in  the 
Tower,  Sullivan  moved  that  an  envoy  extraordinary  should  be 
sent  to  Paris  to  solicit  the  aids  requested  of  the  king.  John 
Laurens,  who  had  fought  valiantly  with  him  at  Newport,  and 
been  seriously  wounded  with  D'Estaing  at  the  siege  of  Savan- 
nah, was  chosen  to  go.  It  was  indeed  understood  that  the 
mission  was  especially  ordered  that  he  might  do  what  he  could 
to  effect  the  release  of  his  father.  His  mother,  and  a  sister  who 
became  afterwards  the  wife  of  James  Ramsay,  the  historian, 
in  1786  likewise  president  of  the  Congress,  were  in  Paris. 
They  were  in  the  greatest  affliction  at  the  impending  danger. 
Mr.  Laurens,  one  of  the  most  estimable  and  honored  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary  leaders,  was  greatly  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him. 
The  harsh  measures  and  menaces  of  the  British  Government 
naturally  overwhelmed  his  family  with  the  deepest  distress. 

It  is  well  known  how  wisely  the  time  was  improved  in 
plans  for  the  campaign  to  come.  Dr.  Franklin  and  Ver- 
gennes,  the  king  and  young  Laurens,  at  Versailles,  on  those 
Ides  of  March  mornings,  would  make  an  interesting  histori- 
cal picture  for  some  genius  in  art.  Perhaps  Necker  might 


14 

be  added  to  the  group,  distressed  at  the  royal  extravagance  ; 
Cornwallis,  entering  Virginia,  pushing  on  to  Yorktown  ;  Clin- 
ton, embarking  and  disembarking  his  men,  not  knowing 
whether  to  go  south  or  bring  Cornwallis  north ;  Lafayette, 
playing  fast  and  loose,  the  more  to  puzzle  them  ;  Arnold, 
burning  Virginia  tobacco  he  could  not  carry  off,  and  Con- 
necticut churches  he  did  not  value  enough  to  leave.  To 
keep  the  bird  from  startling  till  De  Grasse  on  the  first  of 
August,  with  the  best  regiments  of  France  collected  in  the 
nooks  and  corners  of  the  West  Indies,  should  join  Washing- 
ton and  Rochambeau,  Barras  and  Lafayette,  before  the  walls 
of  Yorktown,  depended  on  secrecy,  punctuality,  and  chances 
so  various  that  the  slightest  mistake  might  have  proved  dis- 
astrous. All  went  well ;  as  one  of  the  plotters,  Sullivan  made 
no  mistakes.  At  the  right  moment  the  French  fleets  entered 
the  Chesapeake ;  both  Washington  and  Rochambeau  were 
there. 

In  helping  on  this  consummation,  General  Sullivan  had  an 
important  part  to  perform  in  the  Congress.  The  thirteen 
colonies  that  had  declared  their  independence  in  July,  1776,  lay 
now  exhausted.  They  were  represented  abroad  by  Dr.  Frank- 
lin, John  Adams,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Henry  Laurens,  Francis 
Dana,  Ralph  Izzard.  In  executive  offices  were  Sam  Adams, 
Livingston,  Cornell ;  while  Washington,  Gates,  Greene,  Ster- 
ling, Morgan,  Wayne,  Sumter,  and  Marion  led  in  the  armies. 
Several  of  the  most  honored,  who  had  been  members  of  the 
Congress,  held  high  office  in  the  States.  Rarely  as  many  as 
thirty  attended  Congress.  This  explains  why  so  many  duties 
devolved  upon  the  few,  —  why  Sullivan  was  chosen  on  so  many 
committees.  As  the  first  on  the  list  of  the  most  northern 
State,  in  which  order  of  precedence  they  were  called  upon  to 
vote,  Sullivan's  was  a  responsible  position  to  hold,  for  reasons 
sufficiently  obvious.  In  military  and  naval  affairs,  in  the 
Treasury  and  Foreign  departments,  there  were  few  more  able 
or  willing.  Langdon,  President  of  Harvard,  was  his  frequent 
correspondent  on  finance  ;  and  with  Witherspoon,  President 
of  Princeton,  he  was  associated  in  foreign  and  financial  affairs. 
With  Madison,  Varnum,  Matthews,  Carroll,  who  served  with 
him  on  many  committees,  he  was  constantly  employed  upon 
documents  which  elicited  praise  from  the  most  renowned  of 
European  diplomatists. 


15 

With  so  few  left  to  share  the  responsibilities  of  administra- 
tion and  perform  its  tasks,  many  functions  naturally  devolved 
on  one  who  had  formed  part  of  the  government  from  the 
beginning.  He  had  his  rights,  not  to  abuse,  but  to  use  for  the 
cause ;  and  as  a  general  he  had  been  trained  to  respect 
the  limits  of  authority  too  well  to  be  likely  to  transgress  them. 
If  in  suggesting  to  Luzerne  the  wisdom  of  using  the  opportu- 
nity presented  by  Clinton  for  procuring  information,  he  claimed 
a  larger  discretion  as  one  of  the  Government  than  he  would 
have  thought  of  exercising  simply  as  a  member  of  the  Congress, 
allowance  should  be  made  for  the  singular  condition  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  time,  having  no  head,  carrying  on  a  wax;  almost 
partisan,  and  the  people  being  almost  equally  divided. 

Our  struggle  for  independence  was  evidently  not  to  go  by 
default.  Dependence  on  a  nation  alien  in  blood,  language,  and 
faith  had  its  objections.  The  approach  of  the  critical  moment 
may  have  disturbed  the  settled  views  of  many ;  but  knowing 
from  history  what  England  meant  by  unconditional  surrender, 
France  as  a  friend  and  ally,  if  sometimes  exacting,  would  be 
preferable  to  the  old  oppression.  There  could  have  been  no 
advantages,  national  or  individual,  which  Britain  could  offer  so 
acceptable  as  the  independence  assured  by  the  great  Euro- 
pean combinations. 

From  the  commencement  of  his  term  of  service,  the  previ- 
ous September,  Sullivan,  as  mentioned,  had  taken  an  active 
part  in  devising  measures  for  restoring  the  public  credit  and 
replenishing  the  exhausted  treasury.  In  his  correspondence 
he  had  consulted  Washington  as  to  the  selection  of  Hamilton 
—  who  wrought  in  that  department  such  wonders  later  —  for 
Superintendent  of  Finance.  Hamilton  could  not  be  spared 
from  the  army,  and  the  choice  fell  on  Robert  Morris.  Con- 
gress, in  committee  of  the  whole,  had  previously  kept  control 
of  this  branch  of  the  public  service  as  the  Committee  on 
Finance.  But  on  the  8th  of  May,  the  day  after  his  brother 
Daniel's  departure  from  Philadelphia,  General  Sullivan  moved 
that  a  committee  of  five  be  chosen  to  devise  further  ways  and 
means  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the .  ensuing  campaign,  and 
to  consider  what  further  measures  could  be  adopted  for  a  better 
regulation  of  the  public  finances.  Witherspoon,  Sullivan, 
Smith,  Clymer,  and  Rodney  constituted  this  committee. 

Two  of  their  recommendations  for  redeeming  the  outstand- 


16 

ing  obligations,  which  were  thought  too  considerate  of  the 
actual  holders,  met  with  little  favor;  but  on  the  14th  Morris 
accepted  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Finance,  and  on  the 
17th  submitted  his  plan  for  the  Bank  of  America.  This, 
approved  on  the  26th,  was  referred  to  the  committee  "  to  fur- 
nish means  for  the  campaign  "  to  mature  and  carry  out.  On 
the  16th,  Sullivan,  from  a  special  committee,  reported  the  result 
of  an  inquiry  into  the  management  of  the  loan  offices,  and  on 
the  22d  his  committee  "  to  furnish  means  for  the  campaign  " 
offered  a  resolution,  which  was  accepted,  that  the  war  should 
be  carried  on  upon  a  specie  basis,  and  that  rations  be  purchased 
by  contract. 

On  the  21st  Sullivan  reported  an  order  authorizing  General 
Gates  —  then  awaiting  his  trial  by  court-martial  for  Camden 
—  to  repair  to  head-quarters  and  take  such  command  as  the 
commander-in-chief  should  direct;  and  on  the  25th, he  reported 
another,  directing  the  Board  of  War  to  take  measures  to  send 
into  New  York  and  Charleston  such  quantities  of  tobacco  as 
would  discharge  the  arrears  due  from  American  prisoners  then 
in  confinement,  and  to  provide  for  their  future  support.  As 
chairman  of  another  committee,  with  Varnum  and  Bland,  to 
whom  had  been  referred  the  letter  of  Washington  of  the 
20th  of  December,  he  submitted  a  rearrangement  of  the  army, 
amounting  to  a  reorganization.  It  is  not  proposed  to  claim 
for  Sullivan  any  exclusive  credit  for  these  various  measures. 
He  did  his  part  with  the  rest.  He  co-operated  in  all  the  prin- 
cipal reforms  which,  adopted  when  our  fortunes  seemed  at  their 
lowest  ebb,  proved  the  masterly  moves  on  the  chess-board 
which  achieved  independence.  One  of  his  earliest  duties  in 
Congress  had  been  to  secure  Greene's  appointment,  whose 
judicious  movements  that  very  month  had  driven  Cornwallis 
to  his  trap. 

On  the  22d  Luzerne  transmitted  to  Congress  a  letter  from 
the  king,  expressing  an  intention  to  prosecute  the  war  with 
the  utmost  vigor,  and  informed  them  that  he  had  received 
despatches  of  great  importance,  which  he  should  hasten  to 
communicate  when  deciphered.  On  the  25th  he  informed 
Congress  that  the  second  division  of  the  troops,  commanded  by 
Count  de  Rochambeau,  could  not  be  expected  for  the  campaign  ; 
but  measures  had  been  taken  to  reinforce  the  army  and  expe- 
dite ships  in  force  to  enable  the  squadron  at  Newport  to  put 


17 

to  sea.  The  king  had  granted  a  subsidy  of  six  million  francs, 
and  would  enable  Dr.  Franklin  to  borrow  four  millions  more. 
The  following  day  another  memorial  from  the  minister  an- 
nounced certain  overtures  made  by  Great  Britain  for  peace, 
through  the  mediation  of  the  Empress  of  Russia  and  the  Em- 
peror of  Germany,  and  declared  that  France  was  disposed  to 
accept  them  on  the  basis  of  independence  for  the  States ;  and 
advised  that,  while  negotiating,  the  efforts  against  the  enemy 
should  be  redoubled.  He  requested  that  a  committee  should 
be  appointed  to  treat  with  him  for  the  negotiation. 

The  committee,  consisting  of  Carroll,  Jones,  Witherspoon, 
Sullivan,  and  Matthews,  reported  on  the  28th  and  again  on 
the  6th  of  June.  They  were  engaged  in  the  general  direction 
of  the  preparations  for  many  weeks,  in  framing  commissions 
for  Dr.  Franklin,  Henry  Laurens,  John  Jay,  John  Adams  and 
Thomas  Jefferson,  the  appointed  commissioners,  in  determin- 
ing boundaries  and  other  stipulations,  and  in  preparing  the 
instructions  for  the  action  of  Congress. 

In  these  arid  similar  duties  Sullivan  was  busily  engaged  till 
September,  when,  his  year  having  expired  and  his  successor 
having  been  elected  the  previous  April,  he  went  home  to 
New  Hampshire.  He  was  there  busily  occupied  in  its  ad- 
ministration, as  major-general  in  organizing  its  troops,  as 
attorney-general,  as  president  of  the  State,  or  Federal  judge, 
till  his  death  in  1795.  This  rapid  sketch  of  his  public  career 
seems  important  to  be  borne  in  mind  in  passing  judgment 
upon  the  likelihood  of  his  ever  having  swerved  from  loyalty 
to  his  country.  It  would  seem  harsh  judgment,  —  even  if  it 
should  prove  that  he  ever  wrote,  to  save  his  brother's  life,  to 
Holland  of  which  no  evidence  appears  that  he  ever  did  —  that 
he  should,  after  such  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Independence, 
be  charged  with  either  corruption  or  treason. 

Judging  by  the  periods  it  took  for  intelligence  of  a  secret 
nature  to  pass  between  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  the  infor- 
mation obtained  must  have  been  stale  before  it  reached  its 
destination.  On  the  16th  of  May  the  ''Adventure,"  with  nine 
hundred  barrels  of  flour,  was  captured  by  the  "  Royal  Oak,"  and 
carried  into  New  York.  It  had  a  permit  which  covered  part  of 
its  cargo  or  mail.  One  of  Captain  Beckwith's  correspond- 
ents takes  occasion  to  mention  this  neglect  in  a  letter  of  the 
19th  of  June,  thirty-four  days  afterwards.  It  reached  Beck- 


18 

with  only  on  the  1st  of  July,  with  despatches  received  in  May 
from  France.  Its  writer  mentions  subjects  under  debate  in 
the  assembly  of  his  State,  which  indicate  either  New  York  or 
Pennsylvania  as  that  to  which  he  belonged. 

In  another  letter  of  the  27th  of  June,  1781,  from  a  gentle- 
man of  Philadelphia  to  Captain  Beckwith,  received  by  him 
also  the  first  day  of  July,  he  speaks  of  a  letter  dated  May  the 
30th  received  on  the  23d  June.  The  correspondence  could 
not  have  been  brisk  or  profitable  ;  and  in  this  particular  instance 
the  principal  part  of  the  information  had  long  before  been 
spread  broadcast  over  the  land,  or  forestalled  by  the  press. 
There  were  times,  during  that  eventful  summer,  when  secret 
intelligence  might  have  been  precious,  —  for  example,  in  the 
allied  armies'  circuit  round  New  York,  from  Newport  to  York- 
town, —  but  what  proved  of  most  avail  was  the  truth  told  by 
Washington  and  Rochambeau,  which  Clinton  refused  to  be- 
lieve. Leaks,  when  generals  kept  their  own  counsels,  were 
unimportant.  That  much  found  in  Clinton's  secret  journal 
was  purposely  designed  to  mislead  him,  seems  obvious  enough. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  any  of  the  communications  printed 
in  the  journal  had  come  directly  or  indirectly  from  General 
Sullivan.  We  only  argue  that  if  they  had,  the}7  betraj^ed  no 
secret  prejudicial  to  the  cause  of  American  independence  when 
received  by  Clinton. 

It  was  clearly  a  duty  to  his  brother,  cost  what  it  might,  to 
do  all  that  he  honorably  could  to  save  him  in  his  peril  from  his 
imprisonment.  He  had  no  means  to  give  him  to  rebuild  his 
•  house,  burnt  without  the  slightest  justification  by  the  British  ; 
for  the  ashes  of  the  Iroquois  towns  was  a  retaliation  for  Wy- 
oming. Their  brother  James,  then  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Bench  of  Massachusetts,  had  a  large  family  and  scanty  means. 
If,  to  further  Daniel's  liberation,  John  expressed  his  wish  for 
reconciliation  on  fair  terms  and  reasonable  guaranties,  in  case 
independence  from  reverses  proved  impossible,  there  was  no 
treason  in  that.  Daniel  was  soon  exchanged  or  set  free,  and 
died  on  his  way  home.  There  is  no  evidence  that  John  ever 
received  any  bribe  or  performed  any  service  for  the  enemy. 
He  was  always  true  to  the  cause  of  Independence.  Often  a 
successful  candidate  for  public  office,  no  such  reproach  was 
ever  flung  at  him  or  whispered.  He  retained  to  the  end  the 
confidence  of  Washington,  Greene,  Knox,  Lafayette,  and  all 


19 

the  best  of  the  patriots.  The  only  key  to  Holland's  declara- 
tion, signed  by  Daniel,  in  Clinton's  journal,  is  that  the  plain 
truth  was  very  much  perverted  for  a  purpose  ;  that  John  was 
faithful  to  his  brother ;  and  that  if  he  feigned  more  affection 
to  the  British  than  the  infamous  course  of  Clinton  in  his 
attempts  to 'bribe  inspired,  his  motive  was  to  save  Daniel  from 
the  pestilential  vapors  of  the  hulks  and  restore  him  to  his 
wife  and  children. 

Nothing  is  known  to  the  prejudice  of  Daniel;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  much  in  his  favor.  Judged  by  his  descendants,  he 
was  in  every  way  worthy.  He  was  hardly  responsible  for  pas- 
sages in  the  declaration  to  which  exception  is  taken.  It  is* 
signed  by  De  Lancy,  Daniel,  and  Holland.  This  does  not  look 
as  if  Daniel  signed  of  his  own  free  will,  but  from  encourage- 
ment, perhaps  coercion.  Perhaps  he  smelt  the  blood  of  the 
shamble,  and  instinctively  drew  back.  By  threat  or  in  ap- 
prehension of  what  later  betided  Hayne,  he  signed  under  duress 
of  circumstance.  It  needs  no  casuistry  to  hold  him  blameless, 
to  impeach  the  credibility  of  the  declaration  without  question- 
ing the  truthfulness  of  his  character.  Formal  oaths  under  such 
conditions  are  not  binding  in  honor  or  conscience,  and,  extorted 
under  threat,  have  no  moral  obligation. 

JCNE  9, 1884. 

Our  request  to  examine  the  secret  journal  of  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  before  its  publication  in  the  magazine,  so  that  ex- 
planation when  needed  might  prevent  anticipated  prejudice  to 
the  memory  of  General  Sullivan,  was  not  granted.  Comments,, 
we  think,  not  justified  by  the  text  have  been  embodied  in  the 
notes.  We  have  endeavored  to  follow  up  the  successive  instal- 
ments of  the  journal  as  they  appeared  from  month  to  month, 
by  the  statement  of  reasons  and  facts  to  correct  erroneous  im- 
pressions. We  hope  this  explanation,  with  the  just  and  can- 
did, will  counteract  the  ungenerous  constructions  placed  on 
transactions  very  simple  arid  innocent,  forced  on  General  Sul- 
livan by  circumstances  not  of  his  own  seeking  and  beyond  his 
control.  The  captivity  of  his  brother  Daniel  was  the  work  of 
the  enemy,  and  the  visits  of  Daniel  to  Philadelphia  were  evi- 
dently at  their  suggestion. 

What  other  course  could  the  most  devoted  and  conscientious 
adherent  of  the  cause  of  independence  have  taken  than  he  did 


under  the  given  conditions  ?  The  uncertainties  attending  the 
future  no  one  had  done  more  to  avert  than  himself ;  but  he  was 
too  sagacious  not  to  estimate  aright  the  possibilities  of  disaster, 
of  the  imperative  necessity  of  submitting  to  what  could  not 
be  avoided,  should  such  disaster  occur.  The  brilliant  hopes 
reasonably  entertained  in  the  summer  of  1778,  of  reducing 
Newport  and  achieving  the  object  of  our  exhausting  efforts, 
had  been  frustrated  by  the  defection  of  D'Estaing.  The  disap- 
pointment of  the  expectations  then  indulged  might  be  brought 
about  by  some  similar  mischance.  That  he  should  have  real- 
ized the  precarious  situation  of  our  condition,  and  might  have 
'alluded  to  it  in  confidential  conversation  with  his  brother,  does 
not  warrant  any  imputation  upon  his  fidelity  to  the  cause  to 
which  he  had  pledged  his  allegiance.  He  may  well  have  re- 
plied, in  answer  to  the  arguments  of  Daniel  for  changing  sides, 
that  he  should  seasonably  be  prepared  for  the  events  thought 
by  Daniel  likely  to  happen  ;  that,  in  case  the  Congress  should 
come  to  confusion  as  predicted,  he  was  determined  to  take 
care  of  himself,  but  needed  no  help  from  the  enemy. 

But  he  knew  what  Daniel  did  not,  nor  Holland,  nor  De 
Lancy,  nor  Clinton,  —  that  arrangements  had  already  been 
made,  through  his  own  efforts  and  influence  (if  not  mainly,  in 
part),  to  bring  about  combinations  that  would  insure  the  concen- 
tration of  the  fleets  and  armies  of  Washington,  Rochambeau, 
and  De  Grasse  in  the  Chesapeake  in  front  of  Yorktown  in  the 
month  of  August,  and  by  capturing  Cornwallis  end  the  war. 
He  knew  not  only  that  Great  Britain  had  made  overtures  for 
peace,  but  that  France  had  pledged  itself  to  accept  no  media- 
tion but  on  the  basis  of  American  independence,  and  had  prom- 
ised and  already  remitted  means  to  re-establish  our  credit 
and  finances,  and  sent  troops  and  armies  to  fight  our  battles ; 
and  he  could  see,  though  they  could  not,  that  the  probabilities 
were  more  encouraging  than  ever,  that  we  should  effect  that 
for  which  we  had  been  so  long  contending.  He  knew  at  the 
same  time  that  success  depended  on  lulling  Clinton  into  a  false 
security  that  our  cause  was  regarded  by  ourselves  as  virtually 
hopeless. 

No  reason  leads  us  to  doubt  that  General  Sullivan  could 
have  revealed  what  might  have  defeated  our  plans,  or  that 
he  kept  this  studiously  concealed  from  Clinton.  The  whole 
tenor  of  his  words,  if  he  used  those  that  Daniel  imputed  to 


21 

him,  tended  to  show  they  were  making  no  great  effort,  and 
that  the  Parliament  had  little  to  dread  or  to  guard  against, 
but  an  attack  on  New  York  by  Washington  and  Rochambeau. 
That  Clinton  knew  nothing  of  the  plan  of  the  campaign  ar- 
ranged in  Paris  in  March,  and  communicated  to  Congress  on 
the  26th  of  May,  or  perhaps  confided  alone  to  its  committee 
up  to  the  time  (July  4, 1781)  embraced  in  the  June  number  of 
the  magazine,  is  equally  evident.  Before  making  any  further 
comment  on  the  information  from  Captain  Sullivan  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1781,  we  append  the  document  itself :  — 

Information  from    Captain  Sullivan. 

JULY  4,  1781. 

He  arrived  at  Philadelphia  the  12th  of  June,  waited  upon  his  brother 
General  Sullivan,  and  delivered  a  letter  to  him  from  Captain  Holland ; 
after  reading  it  several  times  the  General  told  him  it  was  very  well, 
but  would  not  descend  into  particulars,  as  his  coming  to  Philadelphia 
twice  might  give  suspicions  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  had  an  answer  from  New 
Hampshire  he  would  inform  him  of  everything  in  his  power.  That 
Captain  Holland  might  assure  the  person  which  he  mentioned  in  his 
letters  to  him,  in  whose  full  confidence  he  was,  that  he  would  do  every- 
thing in  his  power  to  serve  him. 

Captain  Sullivan  asked  his  brother  if  Mrs.  Holland's  visit  would  be 
limited  to  any  certain  time ;  he  said  he  had  not  the  least  doubt  she 
might  stay  as  long  as  she  pleased ;  that  Captain  Holland  would  follow 
her  in  less  than  six  months,  and  that  the  purchasers  of  Holland's  prop- 
erty had  thrown  their  money  away.  That  it  was  his  opinion  that  unless 
the  French  made  very  great  exertions  in  America  this  summer,  the  Con- 
gress will  be  torn  to  pieces,  and  the  people  would  return  to  their  alle- 
giance ;  that  the  Congress  was  at  present  in  great  confusion,  and  that 
he  was  determined  to  take  care  of  himself.  Captain  Sullivan  further 
says  that  in  every  part  of  Philadelphia  the  people  were  swearing  they 
would  pull  the  Congress  house  down. 

[Signed]     DANIEL  SULLIVAN. 

This  purports  to  give  an  account  of  Daniel's  second  inter- 
view with  his  brother  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  12th  of  June. 
It  is  evident  that  Daniel  mistrusted,  or  affected  to  distrust, 
the  likelihood  of  our  being  able  to  prolong  the  contest.  He 
avowed,  as  one  principal  object  of  his  coming  to  Philadelphia, 
the  emplo}rment  of  his  brother  as  counsel  or  friend  in  the 
affairs  of  Holland  in  New  Hampshire,  whose  estates  there  had 
been  sequestered  or  confiscated  upon  his  taking  sides  with  the 


22 

British.  It  was  natural  enough  that  Holland  should  wish  to 
know  whether  the  property  upon  which  his  family  depended 
for  support  was  irretrievably  lost.  At  his  request  General 
Sullivan,  as  such  counsel  or  friend,  writes  home  to  ascertain 
if  this  were  the  case ;  and  the  information  received  in  reply 
appears  to  have  satisfied  his  mind  that  such  was  not  the  result 
of  any  legal  proceedings  instituted.  He  states  his  belief  that 
Mrs.  Holland  would  be  permitted  to  stay  as  long  as  she  pleased 
in  New  Hampshire,  and  adds  that  Captain  Holland  would  pos- 
sibly follow  her  in  less  than  six  months,  and  that  the  pur- 
chasers of  Holland's  property  had  thrown  their  money  away. 
This  opinion,  no  doubt,  was  that  of  a  lawyer,  and  predicated 
upon  evidence  that  the  requirements  of  law  had  not  been  com- 
plied with.  This  remark  that  Holland  might  in  less  than  six 
months  return  to  New  Hampshire  is  susceptible  of  two  expla- 
nations, —  either  that  in  six  months  the  American  cause  would 
have  become  hopeless  by  British  success,  as  it  would  seem  to 
signify  in  New  York  ;  or,  as  he  firmly  believed  himself  and 
as  the  event  justified,  that  the  plan  of  the  campaign  would  be 
carried  out  and  result  in  an  overwhelming  defeat,  as  actually 
happened  of  the  British  arms.  This  was  sufficiently  guarded 
to  prevent  General  Clinton  or  his  subordinates  surmising  what 
he  had  in  his  mind ;  though,  had  he  supposed  that  his  brother 
Daniel  would  have  repeated  his  words,  uttered  by  him  in  the 
freedom  of  fraternal  intercourse,  he  might  have  been  more 
prudent. 

In  war  the  important  object  is  to  attain  all  information 
possible  of  the  designs  and  movements  of  the  enemy,  and  to 
prevent  the  enemy  from  discovering  any  of  our  own.  From 
any  fear  of  misconstruction,  to  shut  the  door  upon  opportunity 
offered  for  gaining  such  intelligence  would  have  shown  a  want 
of  wisdom.  Members  of  the  Congress  were  more  interested 
with  the  events  of  the  war  than  even  generals  commanding 
in  the  field.  In  this  instance,  without  any  encouragement  of 
his  own,  sources  of  information  opened  to  him  which  it  would 
have  been  a  neglect  of  duty  not  to  improve.  It  would  be 
unfair  to  the  memory  of  General  Sullivan  to  judge  of  the  pro- 
priety of  his  proceedings  without  taking  into  consideration  his 
position,  his  relations  to  the  country,  the  part  he  was  actually 
taking  in  public  affairs.  No  one  was  more  busily  employed  or 
reasonably  trusted,  or  more  favorably  placed  to  further  sue- 


23 

cess ;  no  one  more  active  or  energetic,  or  eager  and  earnest  to 
bring  it  about.  Submitted  to  this  test,  nothing  that  as  yet 
has  appeared  in  the  secret  journal  but  is  susceptible  of  easy 
explanation  without  prejudice  to  his  patriotism  ;  nor  do  we 
believe  that  anything  will  be  discovered  in  its  future  pages 
incapable  of  a  similar  solution. 


